How To Choose The Best Candidate For Your Position

Your business is growing! This is great news, and something every business wants, right? Now you have to find the perfect candidates to fill all those new job positions you’ve created.

Or perhaps someone is leaving your company and you have to find a replacement quickly to fill those shoes. If it’s a key position, not only do you need to find the right person for the position, you also have to do it as quickly as possible to avoid interruptions to your workflow.

Whatever the circumstances may be, your top priority is to locate, choose, and hire the absolute best candidate for your open positions. Here are several things to keep in mind as you go through this exciting and critical process.

Create An Accurate Job Description

To attract the right job candidates, you need to start with the job description. Far too often, a company will throw together a bare-bones description without giving it much thought. Unfortunately, when key pieces of information are missing from the job description, you may fail to attract the most qualified candidates.

Write down exactly what skills you must have, and then list the desired (but not required) skills as well. Explain in detail what the job entails. Specify which requirements are non-negotiable; for example, if the individual you’re looking for MUST have an MBA or MUST be bilingual, indicate this upfront to avoid wasting time or disappointing candidates who are great choices but don’t meet the conditions you simply can’t live without.

Another perk of taking the time to create a detailed job description is that YOU won’t waste your time interviewing candidates you thought were qualified but, in reality, are not. The better you communicate your requirements up front, the more likely it is that you’ll be interviewing only the top, best-fit candidates instead of wasting valuable time on individuals who just aren’t qualified.

It’s also helpful for everyone involved if you can include details that affect candidates directly, such as what salary range you’re prepared to offer, which benefits are available, how much vacation time is available, and other details that will directly impact a new employee’s experience with your company. It can be devastating to find the perfect candidate and then lose them because your offer comes in well below expectations. Spell everything out upfront as much as possible to avoid surprises and disappointments.

Make Effective Use Of Job Boards

These days, the Internet is swimming with all types of job boards that employers can use to post openings and screen candidates. Use these boards, preferably several of them, for a wider reach. However, don’t feel that you have to use every single job board that’s out there! Simplify your process as much as possible by targeting and using only the most effective boards rather than all of them.

Take The Time To Review Resumes And Cover Letters

Not everyone is great at writing resumes. A solid candidate may be overlooked simply because he or she failed to use the right buzzwords. If you depend exclusively on bots to do keyword searches for you, it’s very possible that you’ll miss a great candidate entirely. Have a trusted, experienced admin or HR person go over resumes to look for hidden gems that keyword searches alone might miss.

Do Thorough Pre-employment Screenings And Checks

You’d be surprised what a background check can turn up! You may find the candidate of your dreams, but before you extend a job offer, it’s imperative that you conduct thorough background screening.

Why, you may ask?

Because no volatile or violent individual is going to share that piece of information with you!

At NationSearch, we’ve put together real-life case studies showing a sampling of what we’ve uncovered for employers through our extensive employment screening services. Here’s some of what we’ve found:

• Dealership Avoids Hiring Sexual Predator: A well-known car dealership ordered a background check through our company for an individual who was seeking employment. Our pre-employment screening turned up arrests and convictions for soliciting minor children online.
• Medical Transportation Provider Narrowly Misses Hiring DUI Driver: The pre-employment check we conducted on an applicant for a medical transportation driver position for an assisted living facility revealed that he had been dishonest during his interview. He had stated that his driving record was clean, but our screening turned up an open DUI case and a prior conviction involving a controlled substance.
• Payroll & HR Services Company Almost Hires Violent Person: Our background check uncovered a violent past for a candidate who would have extensive interactions with others through his job. This person had been convicted for assault with a deadly weapon for repeatedly striking a homeless man with a large stick.

As you can see, had these companies not hired a background check company to fully vet these candidates, they may have extended job offers to individuals whose resumes looked great and who did well on their interviews, but who could have been potential dangers to others while performing the duties of their jobs.

Always conduct a pre-employment check before making a job offer!

Reach Out To NationSearch For Assistance

NationSearch has been providing comprehensive pre-employment screen and background check services to companies across the nation since 1987. We’re constantly checking our processes and improving them, as needed, to ensure compliance with ever-changing regulations.

Before you hire someone, do your due diligence. Hire NationSearch to conduct a background check. To learn more about our services, reach out to us today!